Pros and Cons of Every Golf Grip Style |
Best Grip? Overlapping vs Interlocking |
Grip style: Interlocking![]() |
Hand position: Neutral![]() |
Putting grip style / hand position: Cross-handed (left hand low) for short putts, reverse overlap / neutral for long putts![]() |
He may have changed his famously looping swing, but Rickie Fowler’s grip remains as solid as ever.
The swing changes, instituted with the help of super teacher Butch Harmon, are credited with propelling Fowler to four top-5 finishes in the 2014 major championships. Fortunately for Fowler, the tweaks required little if any grip revision. (Changing one’s grip, even a tiny bit, can be an awkward and drawn-out process.)
While his swing has always been unorthodox, Fowler’s grip is pretty standard. He interlocks the fingers, a la Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, with the right and left hands in a neutral position on the handle. This likely helped him adapt more easily to his re-routed backswing.
Now onto the greens, where the Rickie Fowler grip method takes a turn for the intriguing. In 2012, Fowler switched from a conventional grip style to the left hand low technique. While it worked well – he claimed his first PGA Tour win after switching – Fowler wasn’t as comfortable stroking long putts this way. The answer: Cross-handed for short to mid-range putts, conventional beyond that.
Fowler displayed his putting prowess at the 2014 PGA Championship, holing putt after putt inside 10 feet with the cross-handed grip, and draining a 29-footer (among others) on Sunday’s final nine with his traditional style.
Moral of the story: Sometimes, the grip that feels best works best.







